


A Flicker From You

by UntoldMuse



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Big Brother Sans (Undertale), Gaster is the skelebro's father, Gen, Good W. D. Gaster, Light Angst, Parent W. D. Gaster, Younger Brother Papyrus (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 06:36:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17136824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UntoldMuse/pseuds/UntoldMuse
Summary: From this prompt: "Gaster comes back to life, and it is revealed that he had one son, and created the other skeleton for him as a comfort object. Sans is delighted that he has a confirmed purpose in life, and it is to give Papyrus hugs."Sans and Papyrus find themselves trapped inside their cozy home in Snowdin, when multiple feet of snow fall at once.But all is not so bad. They've got spaghetti, TV and a nagging feeling of grief for their father, the late W.D. Gaster.This is my Undertale Secret Santa gift for AnonJ. I hope you enjoy it!





	A Flicker From You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnonJ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonJ/gifts).



> This my gift for the Undertale Secret Santa 2018 exchange. It was nice to work on this story, it's been a while since I worked on anything Undertale related. I hope you enjoy this story!

Papyrus couldn’t exactly determine the day he started to notice Sans moping around their house. It seemed to him like Sans had always just silently slunk from room to room…Sometimes appearing in places he shouldn’t physically be. He chalked it up to what Undyne called “chaos god energy.”

However, this week had been especially loathsome for both the brothers. Papyrus ran out of spaghetti sauce midway through making a steaming pot of spaghetti on Tuesday. Sans _lost_ the pet rock on Thursday. And now, the snow outside had accumulated so high, they couldn’t open the front door without a pile of snow flooding the living room.

It was a struggle.

It didn’t help that during this time, Papyrus became aware of how much Sans was dragging along. That Saturday morning, Papyrus made toast for himself and his brother, then called Sans down to eat. There was not a sound or sign of movement for at least 10 minutes.

In a huff, he climbed the stairs and marched into San’s bedroom. “Sans?” He exclaimed. “Are you in here, or are you playing pranks on me again?” He asked. Papyrus fumbled in the door way for a second, trying to find the light switch. At last, he flicked it on and illuminated the room. To his disdain, no Sans in sight.

Papyrus shook his head and turned the light back off. _“Sans must be in his little workshop…or at Grillby’s already.”_ He thought. Papyrus went back to the kitchen, opening a little door behind the china cabinet that Sans thought he didn’t know about. He walked the short hallway, emptying out into the rear of the workshop. And there sat Sans, on the floor.

“Sans?” Papyrus spoke Sans jerked his head up, looking at Papyrus.

“hey bro, h-how did you get back here?” He stammered.

“I found your little door in the kitchen, but that’s beside the point. What are _you_ doing back here?” Papyrus countered.

Sans shrugged, leaning against the workbench behind him. It was a small built in, with drawers and one tall cabinet. On top of the bench there was a blue print and some tools. They looked like puzzle making tools to Papyrus’s untrained eye.

“i came back here to chill…since it’s so cold out, y’know?” Papyrus rolled his eyes at the meager pun.

“I’ve made us breakfast if your hungry. I called you, but you didn’t’ come.” He informed Sans.

“sorry,” Sans replied. “i’ve just got a lot on my mind.” Papyrus strolled over and sat down beside his brother.

Leaning over, he saw a small piece of paper in Sans’ boney fist. “What’s that?” He said, gesturing to the paper.

Sans opened his hand, revealing a photograph.

It was three smiling faces and the words _“don’t forget”_ scrawled across the bottom.

“You must be missing father really hard.” Papyrus observed. It wasn’t a question. He’d felt the ache too. It came and went, sometimes lingering in Papyrus’s bones for weeks at a time.

Sans passed the photo to his brother and Papyrus stared at it for a long time. “I miss him this time of year the most,” he said aloud. Sans nodded in agreement.

“wish i could see him again…” Sans replied.

Papyrus scratched the top of his skull, unsure what to say. He stood up, reaching out a hand to Sans. “Come on brother, let’s go eat.” Sans got up as well and stuffed the picture in his hoodie pocket.

 

* * *

 

 

After breakfast Papyrus proposed digging a tunnel through the snow to get to the outside. It was a brilliant idea! Only to be thwarted by the realization they didn’t own a snow shovel. All they had were spoons, and they would be dreadfully inefficient.

So resigned, Papyrus and Sans sat under a blanket on the couch, watching TV for several hours. Sans had passed out asleep, while Papyrus idly changed channels. He couldn’t stay focused on one for very long…He was _so bored._

            While slipping into a boredom-and-tv-induced coma, Papyrus suddenly heard a weird noise. He jerked his head, staring at Sans. His older brother thrashed on the arm of the couch, smacking his head on the cushion. Papyrus immediately knew what that meant.

            “Sans!” He reached out and grabbed the smaller skeleton’s head with both hands. “Sans wake up! You’re having another night terror!” He shouted. Papyrus kicked the blanket off them both and pulled Sans away from the cushion. “Wake up lazybones, you’ll feel better!” He yelled once more.

           

            Sans’ eye sockets flew open, his left eye glowing faintly. Papyrus patted him on the skull to calm him down. “Shh…it’s alright…” He soothed. Sans slowly relaxed, coming out of whatever nightmare had been plaguing him.

            “i…i saw him. i saw him paps… _dad. i saw dad.”_ Sans explained.

            “WHAT?!” Papyrus yelled.

            Sans flinched and scooted away. “don’t have to yell, i’m right here.” He said tersely.

            “What did you see exactly, Sans?” He asked after mumbling an apology for being loud.

            “i saw him…standing over the core. he looked like he was holding somethin’…like a little kid…i think it was _you._ ” Sans revealed. Papyrus was taken back, started scratching his chin.

            Neither brother said a word for a few minutes, contemplating the dream in silence; When suddenly, the lights in the house flickered. Papyrus jerked up from the couch, shrieking.

            “SANS! WHAT IS THAT?!” He screamed.

            “bro, chill. it’s just the power.”

            The lights turned on and off in rapid succession, until finally they made up their mind to stay off. Papyrus groped through the dark to find Sans, and clung to his brother like a wet noodle to the kitchen sink. Sans, mildly annoyed, said “paps, it’s just a power outage. lemme go to the kitchen and get the flashlights.” Papyrus nodded, accidentally thwacking his jaw against Sans’ skull. Sans would’ve rolled his eyes if he had them.

            Slowly, they marched to the kitchen. Sans fumbled around in the bottom cabinets, trying to feel for the flashlights. “hey paps,” he said after a minute or two of struggling. “use your magic to turn ‘em blue so i can find them.”

            In a few seconds the telltale _ping_ of blue magic rang out. Sans could finally see the flashlights, illuminated by a soft blue glow. He grabbed one and tossed the other to Papyrus. And just like that, two soft lights appeared.

            “there we go, now we can see again.” Sans reassured his bro.

            Papyrus peeled himself off Sans, standing upright. He coughed into his fist. “For the record Sans, I was clinging to you for _your_ comfort.”

            “sure pap.” Was his only reply.

            They made their way back to the living room, deciding to stick together in the dark. Sans would never admit it, but he did feel safer beside his bro.

            Especially when, upon their return to the living room, the brothers discovered a strange figure standing there. Sans nearly dropped his flashlight.

_too tall for a human…unless it’s a grown one. can’t be a monster the snow is too high to get in the house…_ Sans went down a mental laundry list of what the figure could and couldn’t be, until it turned around.

His movement was slow, like trying to sprint through thick mud. Papyrus conjured a few bone attacks, readying for a fight.

But those attacks turned out to be unneeded.

“Boys,” the figure spoke. “Boys…Do you remember me? It’s me-“

“DAD?!” Papyrus cut him off.

“dad…” Sans whispered, like the word was some dark spell that would summon a creature from the beyond.

Their father, the former Royal Scientist…One Doctor W.D. Gaster…in the _not quite_ flesh.

“Boys…” He repeated. His speech slurry, unfocused and heard to understand. “I haven’t much time…but…I had to see you.” He continued.

“h-how are you here?” Sans asked.

“A tiny rift in the CORE, I took the opportunity to get out.”

“the power outage…” Sans concluded.

“Precisely. The flux of power opened a hole for me to escape through…but that’s  not important.”

The brothers wondered exactly what _was_ important then.

As if he could read their minds, Doctor Gaster answered. “I’m here because I felt your energy. Your spirit wanes at this time of year…why?”

Papyrus rubbed his arm with the opposite hand and gazed at the floor. He felt uneasy in their supposedly dead father’s presence. Understandable. Sans on the other hand, felt nothing but inquisitive.

“it’s this time of year. with gyftmas right around the corner and everyone bein’ with their families…”

“It makes us miss you.” Papyrus put in.

“Boys,” Gaster said, a soft smile gracing his misshapen face. “I’m always here. You just don’t see me. I’m watching, from within the void…I come out sometimes to sit with you…even if you don’t notice.”

Oh, but they _had_ noticed. Papyrus often felt like there was another person in the kitchen when he cooked, even though he was physically alone. He chalked it up to one of Sans’ pranks, but this…was somehow creepier and better.

“i’ve been having dreams about you…you and paps.” Sans said, pensively drawing closer to Gaster’s dripping body. He faded in and out like static on the tv…not entirely stable…

“in all my dreams, you’re holding pap…but i’m not there. and i don’t know why…why is that?”

Sans stood a breath away from Gaster, cyan eyes staring up into swirling pools of vantablack. The chill crept onto his bones and _stars_ how it ached. But not the painful Sans had grown used to. It was a different kind. A certain emotion that Sans couldn’t place, but still felt, nonetheless.

“Sans, Papyrus…I guess I should tell you both something important about yourselves while I’m able.” Papyrus cocked his head, leaning in.

“What is it, father?” He asked.

Gaster gazed at his sons, both full of life, unlike himself. There souls pulsed in a steady rhythm, unknowingly in each other’s off beat.

“Boys,” he said solemnly. “When I still walked with the living, I was a bachelor with no children of my own…until I came across a floundering skeleton baby. I took that baby home-“ Suddenly he paused, clasping Papyrus’s hand as best he could-what with having a goopy body.

Papyrus strangled a shriek at the cold, slimy sensation on his bones. He stared at Gaster, uneasy yet interested.

“I took that baby home and named him _Papyrus._ ”

A collective gasp from the brothers resounded in the living room. Non-existent ears, unable to believe what they’d heard.

“But Sans is older than me, how is that possible?” Papyrus interjected. At that moment, it clicked for Sans. The dreams, the _dreams._ The reason he hadn’t seen himself in them, it was because he hadn’t been born yet.

Or rather…

Created, yet.

“I became so involved with my work at the CORE, and I realized my baby needed a companion. So, I created one for him.”

“Who?”

“me, papy. he means me.”

Gaster nodded affirmatively. Papyrus went bug-eyed, absolutely gob smacked by this revelation.

“So, _I’M_ the older brother, technically?!”

“Not quite…” Answered Gaster. Sans couldn’t help but snicker. “I created this child to be physically older than my baby, so he could be a playmate…and protector.”

“Funny, because I’m the one always protecting Sans.” Papyrus jeered.

Sans took slight offense to that statement, after all, he protected Papyrus from a great deal of things. Like ridicule from other monsters in Snowdin, loneliness, and in some nightmarish world from _another_ dream, a human. But he dismissed the thought, knowing it’d lead to nowhere.

“I created Sans in my lab, before Alphys… _changed_ it.” He saltily hissed.

“why? why though?”

Gaster’s face melted downward, dripping unpleasantly. He gave off a vibe of annoyance to Sans. “Weren’t you listening? I created you to take care of your brother. Which, might I add, you’ve been doing a pretty good job of.”

Sans’ eyes lit up like never before. But not out of fear or aggression. Rather, a sense of pride and joy from genuine praise.

“so, you basically just made me to hug papyrus? that’s my great calling in life huh?”

            Gaster would’ve shown his embarrassment if his face allowed it. But the buzzing goop remained firmly in place. He wanted to say more. Knew he should say more. But his body wouldn’t allow it. He could feel the CORE’s pull on him, reeling him back slowly into the inky abyss whence he came.

            “I’m sorry. My time here is getting short. I’d explain further If I could.”  Gaster apologized.

            “Wait, Dad where are you going?”

            “Back to the CORE…to the void…” He replied.

            “Why?”

            “I don’t know. My guess is the temporal rift that the power outage caused is now closing.”

            Papyrus looked desperate, grabbing on the slough of dissipating goop that made up Gaster’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell us about Sans before?” He asked.

            Gaster shook his head dismissively. “It wasn’t important. I wanted you two to grow up and be happy as brothers together.”

            Sans grinned, a real smile, not the usual one permanently on his face. “we did. i promise.” He replied.

            Gaster gave him a knowing smirk. “I know you did.” The rest of that sentence he saved for himself, not wanting to come across too arrogantly.

            Papyrus had still not let go, peering at Gaster with wide eye sockets. He had words in his head that wouldn’t come out-no matter how hard he tried. He longed to say goodbye, hello, and thank you all at once. But only one sentence escaped the cacophony of his thoughts.

“Will we ever see you again?”

Realistically, Gaster knew it may be years, even decades, before another major power collapse at the CORE. However, he owed the boys a small measure of comfort. And to be honest, he owed it to himself. If he could believe for a second, he could leave the void and be with his sons again, then his situation might not be so bad.

So at last, in a measured voice, weighing heavy with thousands of feelings, he answered. “I sure hope so.”

And as Gaster’s body started to flicker like a dying candle, the brothers said their goodbyes with a few tears.

“bye dad,” Said Sans.

Gaster smiled, and for a moment Sans thought he could see the face of his father before the accident. Sharp jawbones and glasses all askance.

But at last, he had to go. With a wave the Doctor said “Goodbye boys.”  And disappeared entirely

* * *

 

THE NEXT MORNING

* * *

 

            When Sans awoke the next morning, he immediately noticed two things. Number one, he was _not_ in his bed. Evidenced by the shag rug under his head. And number                  two, Papyrus was there, if the shouting was any proof.

            “SANS?! SANS!!!”

            “’m right here bro. don’t have to yell.” He replied through gritted teeth.

            Papyrus loomed over Sans, fully dressed in his battle-body best. He reached out and helped Sans off the floor. He gently brushed the back of his brother’s skull, getting              off the dirt. “There, that’s better…Good news! the power is back on! I guess we napped through the whole thing.”

            “bro that’s called sleep…” Sans reminded him. “and i don’t think that’s quite what happened…but alright.” He adjusted his hoodie and t-shirt, smoothing them out                       again.

            “What do you mean?” Papyrus asked.

            Sans squinted at Papyrus with a look like _wtf dude?_ “don’t you remember, dad appeared last night in the living room-he said he…” He could see Papyrus didn’t                            understand, so he shut up completely.

            “Sans, were you dreaming again?” Papyrus asked. Sans stared down at his fuzzy slippers, trying to piece together what had happened. Surely it wasn’t a dream. It was                   too real to be a dream.

            But he had no other explanation, so he went along with Papyrus.

            “i guess so bro…”

            Papyrus put his hand on Sans’ shoulder. “It’s okay, I miss him too.” He said sincerely. Sans pulled away, suddenly cold and even more confused.

            “yeah…anyway, think i’ll go to grillby’s for a bit.” He mumbled. That was at least a valid reason to get away from the house. To have some time to think about what                     Gaster said.

            He and Papyrus exchanged a cursory goodbye, before Sans left. The door shook with the impact, rattling the door frame.

            Papyrus stood in the living room for a second, before deciding to turn on the TV. Nothing came through except fuzzy gray static.

            An if he looked hard enough, a familiar face.

            Very interesting…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
